Minnesota Governor Tim Walz accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president by sharing the deeply personal story of his journey into politics, in a speech heavy in football references and his Midwestern roots.
“I was a forty-something high school teacher with little kids, zero political experience and no money running in a deep red district. But you know what? Never underestimate a public school teacher,” he said.
Walz was a virtual unknown on the national stage before Kamala Harris selected him as her running mate earlier this month, playing up his former career as a high school teacher and coach of team that won the state championship.
His speech was preceded by a reunion of the team, along with a dose of Minnesota, as John Legend and Sheila E. did a short tribute to Prince. The convention watched a short biopic narrated by Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz.
The most emotional moment came when he talked of he their challenge with infertility. With the politicized IVF treatments. Finally, they gave birth to a daughter, Hope, and later a son, Gus.
“Hope, Gus and Gwen, you are my entire world, and I love you,” he said. His son, in tears, stood up and said, “That’s my Dad!.”
Walz turned to Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, as he cited the Democrats favorite target, Project 2025, the roadmap for the next administration written by former Trump administration figures and current allies. Trump has tried to dismiss himself from the 800-plus page proposal.
“Their Project 2025 will make it much harder for people who are just trying to live their lives,” he said. “They spend a lot of time pretending they don’t know a lot about this, but look. I coached high school football long enough to know, and trust me on this: when somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they are going to use it.”
Walz also slammed Republicans for their efforts to ban books, while defending his record as governor. “While they were banning books from their schools, we were banning hunger in ours,” he said.
In maybe a first so far this DNC, Walz’s remarks were praised on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News – – to varying degrees. After the traditional family gathering on stage at the conclusion of his short-ish speech, Walz exited to the very well chosen Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World.
Vice President Harris will address the delegates and the world tomorrow night with her own acceptance speech on the closing day of the DNC.